Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 20:12:39 GMT
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<title>Flux Project Home Page</title>
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<h1>The Flux Operating System Project</h1>

<!WA0><a href="http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/npm-arch.ps"><!WA1><img src="http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/npm-arch2-flat.gif"></a><br>
<h2> The Fluke Nested Process Architecture</h2>
<!-- <!WA2><a href="http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/pict-2h.ps"><!WA3><img src="http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/pict-2h-small.gif"></a><br>   -->
<hr>

The Flux Project's objectives are
(i) to provide infrastructure (the "flux") for highly efficient
component-based systems, with flexible degrees of inter-component
trust, initially oriented to hardware-enforced protection;
(ii) to provide transparent and flexible control of all the
resources used by arbitrary subsystems; and
(iii) to distribute free and usable versions of the developed software.
<p>

We have recently developed an entirely new kernel and OS
structure on which future work will be based.  A new paper,
<!WA4><a href = "ftp://mancos.cs.utah.edu/papers/fluke-rvm.ps.gz">
"Microkernels Meet Recursive Virtual Machines"</a>
describes how this system
efficiently supports recursive virtual machines.  That paper
as well as a paper on
<!WA5><a href = "ftp://mancos.cs.utah.edu/papers/inherit-sched.ps.gz">"CPU Inheritance Scheduling"</a>
appeared at
<!WA6><A HREF="http://sandbox.xerox.com/osdi-96/">OSDI '96</A>.
The draft API for Fluke, the new kernel, is available in
<!WA7><a href="http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/fluke/html/sa-flukeref/">html format</a>,
<!WA8><a href="ftp://mancos.cs.utah.edu/papers/sa-flukeref.ps.gz">1-up postscript</a> and
<!WA9><a href="ftp://mancos.cs.utah.edu/papers/sa-flukeref.2-up.ps.gz">2-up postscript</a>.
Beware: it's currently 110 pages long (but mostly white space).
A design and rationale document will be forthcoming later this year.
<p>

One of the design features which should provide large performance gains
is safely storing portions of normal kernel objects in user space, as
outlined in these <!WA10><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/flobs-wip-slides.ps.gz"> slides from a
work-in-progress talk at December '95 SOSP</a>.  This avoids kernel
entry/exit in many common cases.
<p>

Artist's renditions of
the <!WA11><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/npm-arch.ps">Fluke Nested Process Architecture</a>
and of the <!WA12><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/conf-flux.ps">Fluke OS providing
encapsulated environments for untrusted applications</a>.
<p>

<!-- <!WA13><a href="http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/details.html#APPROACH">More written details</a>, somewhat dated, are available.   -->

<h2><!WA14><a href="http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/people.html">Project Members</a></h2>

<h2><!WA15><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/papers.html">Papers</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><!WA16><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/papers.html#OS">Core OS-related papers</a>
<li><!WA17><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/papers.html#MOD">Module management-related papers</a>
<li><!WA18><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/papers.html#DSM">DSM-related papers</a>
</ul>

<a name = "SOFTWARE">
<h2>Available Software</h2></a>

<ul>
<li> <b><!WA19><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/oskit/html/">Flux OS Toolkit</a>:</b>
	a toolkit to provide infrastructure for constructing
	operating systems.

<li> <b><!WA20><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/mach4/html/Mach4-proj.html"> Mach kernel</a>:</b>
	a major component of the
	overall project is an improved kernel.
	<em>Kernel development has moved to Fluke;
		major work on the Mach kernel has stopped.</em>

<li> <b><!WA21><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/lites/html/"> Lites Unix server</a>:</b>
	we distribute a version of the Lites server.

<li> <b><!WA22><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/mach4-parisc/html/pamach.html"> PA Mach/Lites/4.4-lite system</a>:</b>
	a snapshot of freely distributable PA-RISC source and
	binaries, in the form of a bootable, self-hosting Mach4,
	Lites, and 4.4-lite system for the hp700.

<li> <b><!WA23><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/quarks.html"> Quarks</a>:</b>
	an Alpha release of
	a portable and reasonably efficient distributed shared memory system.

<li> <b><!WA24><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/moss/"> MOSS</a>:</b>
	a highly functional DOS extender based on part of the
	<b>Flux OS toolkit</b>, before it was completely modularized.

<li> <b><!WA25><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/mso/goofie/goofie.html"> Goofie</a>:</b>
	developed by the Mach Shared Objects project,
	<em>goofie</em> creates portable object descriptions from C++
	class declarations.  In the future, Goofie may be used by the Flux
	project to enable system-provided polymorphic functions.

<li> <b><!WA26><a href = ftp://jaguar.cs.utah.edu/dist/pagnutools.html>
	PA-RISC GNU tools</a>:</b>
	we used to maintain the GNU language tools for HP's PA-RISC
	architecture, and still provide recent versions, in both source and
	HP-UX binary forms.

</ul>


<h3><!WA27><a href = http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/related-utah.html>Related Utah Projects</a></h3>
<h3><!WA28><a href="http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/facilities.html">Computing Resources</a></h3>
<h3>Support</h3>

The group's research in operating systems and related language work is
sponsored by grants from ARPA, NSF, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM.
The Center for
Software Science is a Utah State Center for Excellence.

<h3>Job Openings</h3>
<ul>
<li> <!WA29><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/jobs-staff.html">Research staff</a>.
<li> <!WA30><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/jobs-students.html">Student fellowships and research assistantships</a>.
</ul>

<h3>Directions and Hotel Information</h3>
<p>
<!WA31><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/directions.html">Directions</a> from the Salt Lake Airport to
the Computer Science Department at the University, and 
<!WA32><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux/directions.html#hotels">
information </a>
on Salt Lake Hotels.
<p>
<!WA33><a href = "http://www.cs.utah.edu/projects/flux//">
University of Utah Department of Computer Science home page</a>

<hr>
<address>lepreau@cs.utah.edu<br>
Last modified on Fri Nov  1 1996</address>
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